Canadian Rural Information Service
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About rural Canada

Rural Definitions

Rural statistics vary depending on how "rural" is defined. Statistics Canada's Rural and Small Town Canada (RST) definition of rural includes all communities that have less than 10,000 residents. This definition may be broken down to show differences in rural areas, based on the degree of labour market integration (urban influence). The variation between different rural areas is significant, sometimes more significant than the differences between urban and rural areas as a whole. There are several Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) definitions of rural, all of which are based on population density. In Canada, the RST definition captures variations among rural areas effectively while the OECD definitions are useful for international comparisons. Though the characteristics of "rural" people are different for each definition of "rural", in general, each definition provides a similar analytical conclusion.

Rural Population

Canadians living in rural and small towns accounted for 19.8% of the Canadian population in 2006, compared to 20.6% in 2001, 22.1% in 1996, and 22.8% in 1991 (RST definition). Since 1981, there have been about 6 million Canadians living in rural and small town areas. In 2006, the population of rural Canada was 6,262,154. The rural population grew by 3.9% between 1991 and 1996, declined by 0.4% between 1996 and 2001, and grew 1% between 2001 and 2006. Decreases in rural population are partly due to a declining population growth rate and partly due to the reclassification of some rural communities to urban when they grew to over 10,000 residents. In all three inter-census periods, rural population grew the fastest in communities with strong social and economic integration with urban areas (Strong MIZ).

The rural and small town share of the population varies considerably across the country. In 2006, 14.9% of Ontario's population lived in rural and small town areas while 28.5% of Manitoba's population, 42.2% of Newfoundland and Labrador's population and 56.6% of Nunavut's population was rural.

For more information:

du Plessis, Valerie, Roland Beshiri, Ray D. Bollman, and Heather Clemenson. (2002). Definitions of Rural. Agriculture and Rural Working Paper. No. 61. (Ottawa: Statistics Canada,, Catalogue no. 21-601-MIE).

Sorensen, Marianne and Jesse Aylward. (2005). Rural Canada Profile: A Ten Year Census Analysis (1991 - 2001). (Ottawa: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Rural Secretariat, Catalogue no. A114-13/1-2001E-HTML).

Statistics Canada. (2007). Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006, 2006 Census: Population and Dwelling Counts. (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 97-550-XWE2006001).

For specific enquiries about rural statistics, contact Statistic Canada:
Tel: 1-800-263-1136
Fax: 1-877-287-4369
E-mail: infostats@statcan.ca
Internet: http://www.statcan.ca/start.html